Machine for marking hats and the like



Sept. 10, 1929. c SMITH MACHINE FOR MARKING HATS AND THE LIKE Fild April20, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet lgEN ToR.

ATTORNEY.

Sept. 10, 1929. c, SMITH 1,727,416

MACHINE FOR MARKING HATS AND THE LIKE Filed April 20, 1927 ZSheets-Sheet2 a NVgNTOR.

BY A AT ORNEY.

Patented Sept. 10, 1929.

PATENT; OFFICE.

NORMAN C. SMITH, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR MARKING HATS AND THE LIKE.

Application filed April 20, 1927. Serial No. 185,105.

More particularly my invention relates to a machine for stampinginitials and other charactors on the sweat bands of hats and for likeuses. I

Thepurpose I have in view is the provision of a convenient machine whichwill apply the intials or other characters on the sweat bands of hatsandthe like and will automatically aline and space a plurality of thesame.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein I have illustrated the bestembodiment of the principles of my invention now known to me, Fig. 1 isa side elevation of the machine, parts being broken away in section forthe sake of clearness; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine; Fig. 3 isasectional View taken along the line III-ITI in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a frontelevation of the machine; Fig. 5 is a broken plan view showing a portionof the base; Fig. 6 is a detail of the pawl "and rack, the former beingshown retracted; 7 is a detail showing a modified form of heatingcontrol and Fig. 8 is a front elevation showing a modified arrangementof the heating element relative to the typewheel.

Referring'first to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, 1 is the base of the machine,preferably an oblong casting hollowed out from below and providedadjacent to its rear end with a vertical bolt hole 2 which is extendedupwardly by the bearing collar 3.

4 is a carriage mounted on the base 1 so as to be swung on a Verticalaxis relative to the base. Thus, intermediate of its length the carriage4 is provided with a vertical bolt hole 5 of greater diameter than thebolt hole 2 and extended downwardly by the bearing collar 6 which rideson the bearing collar 3 so as to hold the carriage in spaced relation tothe base.

7 is a pivot bolt extending through the holes 2 and 5 and provided witha head which en gages the top surface of the carriage. Said bolt has alarger upper diameter which is journaled in the bolt hole 5 and a lowersmaller diameter which extends through the hole 2 in the base 1. A nut 8is'screwed up on the lower end of the bolt to hold the base and carriagein pivotal relation.

9 is a spring interposed between the base and carriage and tending toswing the latter counterclockwise on the base.

10 represents studs on the base 1 on either side of the carriage 4 tolimit the arc of movement of said carriage.

11 is an arm pivotally mounted on the carriage adjacent to the rear endof the latter so as to swing on a horizontal axis. Thus the pivot pin 12extends through the spaced apart stands 13 extending upwardly from thecarriage and through the rear end of the arm 11 interposed between saidstands.

The arm 11 extends forwardly and has mounted on its forwardend, as bymeans of the connecting webs 14 the circular head 15.

16 is an axial hole in the head 15, and 17 is a bolt which extendsthrough said hole and is held inposition on the head by the nut 18. Thehead of the bolt is cylindrical. I

19 is a disk of fiber or other heat insulating material and of largerdiameter than the head 15 and attached to the front of said head as bythe screws 20. r The disk 19 is provided with a central aperture toprovide clearance for the head of the bolt 17 i i 21 is a bushing, alsoof insulating material, which is slipped overthe bolt 17, and 22 is acircular type wheel rotatably mounted on the bushing 21 and having itsrear face dished out for clearance between it and the disk 19. The 30rear perimetral edge of the type wheel is provided with an annularshoulder 23 which engages the edge ofthe disk 19 and maintains thetypewheel in proper relation to its mounting. The type wheel is held on thebushing 5 21 by means of a disk 24 of heat insulating material and anouter metal disk 25 which are secured to the end of the head of the bolt17 bythe screws 26.

It is thus evident that the type wheel which is heated, as willhereinafter be described, is insulated to minimize the heat-transferenceto adjacent metal parts.

The perimetral edge of the type wheel 22 is provided with an annularseries of die-characters which comprise the letters of the alphabetv andalso if desired the emblems of fraternal societies or other characters.

The front face of the type wheel is also provided with an annular seriescomposed of the same characters which may be painted or otherwisedisplayed on the face of the type wheel. The disk which is fixed to thehead of the bolt 17 carries a fixed radially disposed pointer 25 inregistration with which any character of the series on the face of thetype wheel and may be brought into registra tion by the proper rotationof the type wheel. The relation between the two series of characters issuch that when a given character on the faceof the type wheel is inregistry with the pointer, the corresponding character on t 1e perimeterof'tlie wheel is at the bottom of the wheel in position for stamping.

27 is an annular electrical heating element attached to the front faceof the disk 19 concentrically of said disk, clearance for the heatingelement being obtained by the dishing of the rear face of the typewheel. .The heating element is thus stationary while the type wheel isrotatable. Current is supplied to the heating element by the lead wires28 which may be connected to the thermostatic out-out switch 29 to whichin turn the circuit wires 30 are connected.

- It is evident that the perimetral portion of the type wheel, includingthe die-type, is heated electrically and that over-heating is preventedby the provision of the thermostatic cutout.

In Fig. 7 I show one of the lead wires 28 connected to a spring contactmember 31 d8. pending from the head 15 and arranged, when said head 15is depressed for stamping, to

7 make contact with vanother spring contact the heating element in suchcase is at the.

bottom to give clearance for the die type in stamping. l

ll'feans are provided for depressing the type wheel into stampingposition. Thus 34 represents a pair of spaced apart stands extendingfupwardly from the forward portion of the carriage- 1 and between whichthe arm llextends forwardly.

35 is a handle lever pivotally mounted be tween said stands above thearm 11, and which is provided with a cam-butt 36 which, when the lever35 is swung clockwise from its position in Fig. 1, depresses the arm 11and thus forces the type wheel downwardly to accomplish the stampingoperation. V

The front of the base 1 is provided with a flat platform-37 which formsthe anvil, and

said platform is provided at either side with downwardly beveled edgesalong which forwardly extends the fiat spring clips 38 so as to engagethe leather sweat band shown at 39 in Fig. 7 to clamp it flat down onthe anvil.

40 and 41 are the upper and lower spring guide plates between which thegold-leaf ribbon 42 is led forwardly over the anvil. The guide platesarespaced apart vertically to permit the passage of the ribbon, and areshown held in position by the screws i3 which attach the transverselydisposed socket block 4:4: in position above the inner ends of the guideplates. The guideplates are cut away over the anvil as shown at 45 inFig. 5 so as to expose the ribbon 12 to the die type above and to theleather sweat band below. The guide'plates are separated by shims 40adjacent to their side edges.

The upper guide plate 40 has its front edge extending outwardly slightlybeyond the front edge of the lower guide plate 41 and said front edge isbeveled as at 47, to form a knife edge for tearing oil the exposedlength of ribbon when the sweat band is pulled forwardly off the anvil.

The ribbon 42 is stored in a roll in the sunken recess 48 in the topsurface of the base 1 and the roll is mounted on an axle pin 49 whoseends are journaled in the forwardly and downwardly inclined slots 50 inthe stands 51 at either end of the recess 48. Thus as a pull is exertedon the outer end of the ribbon, as when a sweat band is removed from theanvil, the ribbon will be fed forwardly from the roll to provide a freshexposure over the anvil. The ribbon is of gold-leaf or similar materialwith its under surface properly sized. The leather sweat band of the hatis turned outwardly from the hat and inserted on the anvil 37 under theguide-plates 40 and 4 1 and under the spring clips 38 with the exteriorsurface of the band upwardly. The lever 35 is now swung counterclockwisedriving the type wheel downwardly and causing the die type which ispositioned at the bottom of the type wheel to stamp down on the bottomof the ribbon. The heated die type softens the sizing of the lowersurface of the ribbon and thus stamps on the sweat band in gold-leaf orin the other material of the ribbon the character represented by the dietype. V

A lateral movement of the carriage rela-- tive to thebase is employed toproperly space apart the characters which go to comprise the group ofinitials or emblems or initials and emblems which are to be stamped onthe leather sweat band of the hat.

In the embodiment illustrated in'the drawings, provision is made for thestamping of four uniformly spaced characters, but the machine may bedesigned for stamping any desired number.

I For this purpose I provide a rack 52 on the base 1 transverselydisposed relative to said base, and said rack is provided with a predetermined number of teeth, illustrated as four, the shoulders 53 ofsaid teeth being opposed to the spring-actuated movement of the carriagewith the bolt 7 as an axis.

54 is a locking pawl pivoted intermediate of its ends in a vertical slotin the front end of the carriage 4. Thepawlis resiliently depressed intooperative engagement with the rack as by means ofthe spring 55, whilethe upper end of the pawl is disposed so as to be engaged by the arm 11when thelatter is depressed, thereby retracting the pawl from engagementwith the rack.

The arm 11 and the head 15 are prevented from lateral movement as thetype wheel moves downwardly into stamping operation by means of the pin57 depending from the head 15, which pin enters as the head is depressedone of the sockets 58 in the block 44. The pin 57 has a tapered lowerend so that it will enter a socket, although not axially alinedtherewith during its initial engagement.

Each of the sockets 58 is positioned on a radial line described from theaxis of the bolt 7 just in advance in a counterclockwise direction of acorresponding shoulder 53 of the rack 52, as indicated by the dottedlines a in Fig. 5, so that as the head is depressed the tapered lowerend of the pin 57 enters one of the sockets 58 and the pawl 54 isretracted, and when the head is again raised, the lower end of the pawlis just pastv a shoulder 53 of the rack and as the pawl descends, owingto the clockwise pull of the spring 9, the pawl slides down over theincline of the next tooth until it comes to rest against the nextshoulder of the rack, thus permitting the carriage to swing clockwise aspace equal to the space between the centers of the sockets and therebyproperly position the head and the type wheel for stamping the nextinitial or emblem in proper spaced relation to that just previouslystamped.

The pointer 25 is provided with a rib 59.

on its rear face which is adapted to engage one of the annular series ofnotches 60 on the face of the type-wheel, one of said notches beingpositioned directly in line with each of the series of characters on theface of the type wheel. Thus the wheel is locked in its adjustedposition against accidental rotation.

It is evident from the foregoing description that themarking of hatbands with one or more initials and/or emblems may be expeditiouslyaccomplished, the individual characters being positioned in properspacedrelation. The gold-leaf or other ribbon comes already sized and theheating of the die-type causes the sizing to be melted as the impress ismade.

Although primarily intended for marking hats, it is evident that anymaterial upon which characters are to be stamped may be marked with mymachine.

What I desire to claim is 7 1. In a marking device of the characterdescribed, the combination of a base, an anvil carried by said base andupon which the work is supported, a carriage pivotally mounted'on saidbase to swing on a vertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivotallymounted on said carriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto,and a die-wheel rotatably mounted on the free end of said arm and havingcharacters arranged on its perimetral edge, said wheel beingcausedtoapproach and move away from said anvil bythe movements of saidarm.

2. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried bylsaid base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage pivotally mounted on said base to swing on avertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivotally mounted on saidcarriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, a die-wheelrotatably mounted on the free end of said arm and having charactersarranged on its perimetral edge, said wheel being caused to approach andmove away from said anvil by the movements of said arm, and spring-meansfor moving the die-wheel away from the anvil.

3. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage pivotally mounted on said base to swing on avertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivotally mounted on saidcarriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, a die-wheelrotatably mounted on the free end of said arm and havingcharactersarranged on its perimetral edge, said wheel being caused toapproach and move away from said anvil by the movements of said arm, andmeans for moving said carriage .to a predetermined degree on its axisafter an impression whereby to space the characters impressed on thework.

4. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and'upon which the work issupported, a carriage pivotally mounted on said base to swing on avertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivotally mounted on saidcarriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, a die-wheelrotatably mounted on the free end ofsaid armand having charactersarranged on its perimetral edge, said wheel being caused to approach.and move away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, and meanswhereby as'the arm rises after an impression the carriage is movedito apredetermined degree on its axis to space the next character to beimpressed on the work.

5. In a marking device of the character de scribed, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage pivotally mounted on said base to swing on avertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivotally mounted on saidcarriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, a die-wheelrotatably mounted on the freeend of said arm and having charactersarranged on its perimetral edge,

said wheel being caused to approach and move away from said anvil by themovement of said arm, and means for properly guiding the arm as thedie-wheel approaches the anvil. f

6. In a marking device ot'the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the Work issupported, a carriage pivotally mounted on said base to swing on avertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivot-ally mounted on saidcarriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, a die-wheelrotatably mounted on thefree end of said arm and having charactersarranged on its perimetral edge, said wheel being caused to approach andmove away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, means for movingthe carriage to a predetermined degree on its axis after an impressionon the work, and means for guiding the arm as the die-wheel approachesthe work to insure the predetermined spacing.

7. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage pivotally mounted on said base to swing on avertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivotally mounted on saidcarriage to swing on a horizontal axis rela tive thereto-,- a die-wheelrotatably mounted on the free end of said arm and having charactersarranged on its perimetral edge, said wheel being caused to approach andmove away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, means formovmgthe carriage to a predetermined degree on its axis after an in pressionon thework, and a pin and socket mechanism for insuring the properspacingas the die-wheel approaches the anvil;

8. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an'anvil carried by'said base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage pivotally mounted on said base to swing on avertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivotally mounted on saidcarriage to swingon a horizontal axis relative thereto, a die-wheelrotatably mounted on the free end of said arm and having charactersarranged on its perimetral edge, said wheel being caused to approach andmove away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, means caused tooperateas the sure the predetermined spacing between the charactersimpressed on the work.

9. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage pivotally mounted on said base to swing on avertical axis relative thereto, an arm pivotally mounted on saidcarriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, a die-wheelrotatably mounted on the 'free end of said arm and having charactersarranged on its perimetral edge, said wheel being caused to approachandmove away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, means caused tooperate as the die-wheel moves away from the anvil for moving thecarriage a predetermined degree on its axis, and means caused to operateas the die-wheel approaches the anvil for'properlypositioning thedie-wheel relative to the work and for holding the can riage againstmovement. Y

10. In a marking machine of the character described, the combination ofan anvil upon which the work to be marked is supported, a die-wheelarranged formovement toward and away from the anvil and for movementtransversely to the path of said first mentioned movement, a pin andsocket device for guiding the die-wheel to determine its transversepositionas it approaches the anvil, and means including a rack and pawldevice for shifting the die-wheel relative to the anvil when thedie-wheel is away from the anvil.

11. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage mounted on said base and rotatable on a verticalaxis relative thereto, an arm having its one end pivotally mounted onsaid carriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, adie-wheel mounted on the free end of said arm and arranged to be movedtoward and away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, and meansmounted on said carriage for moving the arm relative to saidcarriage.

12. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base, and upon which the work issupported, a carriage, mounted on said base and rotatable on a verticalaxis relative thereto, an arm having its one end pivotally mounted onsaid carriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, adie-wheel mounted on the free end of said arm and arranged to be movedtoward and away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, and a levermounted on said carriage and arranged to cause the die-wheel to movetoward said anvil.

13. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage mounted on said base and rotatable on a verticalaxis relative there'- to, an arm having its one end pivotally mounted onsaid carriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, adie-wheel mounted on the free end of said arm and arranged to be movedtoward and away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, a levermounted on said carriage and arranged to cause the diewheel to movetoward said anvil, and resilient means for moving the die-Wheel awayfrom the anvil.

14. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the work is supporteda carriage mounted on said base and rotatable on a vertical axisrelative thereto, an arm having its one end pivotally mounted on saidcarriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, a die-wheelmounted on the free end of said arm and arranged to be moved toward andaway from said anvil by the movement of said arm, and a cam-levermounted on said carriage for moving the diewheel toward the anvil.

15. In a marking device of the character described, the combination of abase, an anvil carried by said base and upon which the work issupported, a carriage mounted 011 said base and rotatable on a verticalaxis relative thereto, an arm having its one end pivotally mounted onsaid carriage to swing on a horizontal axis relative thereto, adie-wheel mounted on the free end of said arm and arranged to be movedtoward and away from said anvil by the movement of said arm, a cam-levermounted on said carriage for moving the die-wheel toward the anvil, andspring means for moving the die-wheel away from the anvil.

16. In a marking machine of the character described, the combination ofan anvil upon which the work is supported, means for directing a markingribbon across the anvil and over the surface of the work, a wheel havinga series of die-characters arranged on its perimetra-l surface, meansfor moving the wheel toward and away from the anvil, means for rotatingthe wheel to bring the desired cliecharacter into working relation tothe anvil and means for shifting the die wheel relative to the anvil andtransversely to the path of movement of the ribbon to space succeedingmarkings.

Signed at Pittsburgh, Pa, this 31st day of March, 1927.

NOR-MAN 0. SMITH.

